Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was this the legendary practice of living off local resources?

As noted earlier, it was hard to imagine a town like this supporting too many medical facilities.

Weighing the scalpel in his hand, Fu Qian figured there was a high probability it came from that building with the red-tinged exterior walls.

If that was the case, the frozen corpses likely came from there too.

The distance wasn't far, and the surroundings seemed entirely made up of similar abandoned houses.

If they had been transported inside through this entrance, they wouldn't have been easy to spot.

Then there were the numerous footprints on the ground, which looked like the result of many trips back and forth.

Furthermore, on his way here, although Fu Qian knew he hadn't explored every inch of that maze-like underground passage, he genuinely hadn't seen any other corpses.

If Ivan really had died at the hands of those two young people, and the culprits who committed this "mistake" panicked and couldn't find their way back, wandering around until they reached this spot and left via this corpse-freezing path... then Brother Peeker truly wouldn't have seen them.

One could imagine that after discovering such an underground location and believing he had received some grand calling, Ivan first took advantage of local resources, setting his sights on the nearby hospital.

He attempted to "pollinate" the corpses, but the results were likely less than ideal, yielding no "fruits of power." Just then, a couple of live ones delivered themselves right to his door...

Unfortunately, unlike in the Inner World, Ivan's sacrifice here failed, and he suffered a miserable counter-kill instead...

This perfectly illustrated that objective laws must be respected; there were limits to subjective initiative...

It sounded very reasonable.

Unfortunately, although this train of thought was smooth, the situation itself didn't look great—where was he supposed to find those two missing people next?

Compared to the Art Prison, the area around this location was even more desolate, like a ghost town. Finding a witness here probably wouldn't be easy.

This was likely one of the reasons Ivan had chosen this route.

The only place with a bit more human presence would be the hospital over there.

Putting himself in their shoes, if he were two panicking young people who didn't dare call the police after killing someone, running to a place like that would seem like a reasonable reaction—especially since professional nurse Tina was there.

Fu Qian naturally recalled a scene from the start of his task.

It seemed something unusual had happened, prompting the seemingly conservative Tina to put on that special uniform and go home with him.

Judging from her reaction upon waking up this morning and her subsequent behavior, her situation seemed somewhat similar to Jean's. Both of them had suffered some mental influence from the Inner World, leading to their abnormal actions.

So, was there a specific cause for this mental influence?

...

Judging by the condition of the corpse in the passage, Ivan had definitely been dead for less than a day. If it really was the work of those two young people, then it matched the timeline Brother Peeker had given.

And then something happened at the hospital?

Tina was dragged into the Inner World, leaving a psychological shadow etched into her subconscious?

Was that what led to her following him home, despite wearing something so embarrassing?

Considering he had obviously gotten blackout drunk that night, the timeline still checked out.

However, this was just speculation. Some details still needed to be confirmed with the person involved.

But even without confirmation, there was a high probability that some sort of disturbance had occurred yesterday at the hospital's corresponding location in the Inner World.

Most importantly, if his competitor had also found this place and seen this scene, wouldn't they also assume the culprits might have fled to the hospital?

And right now, it was a race.

Taking all this into account, the hospital seemed well worth investigating—Fu Qian turned around and headed back the way he had come.

That was right. Even though it seemed absolutely necessary, he still didn't rush straight to the hospital. Instead, he went all the way back and jumped down through the hatch cover again.

The situation certainly looked tense, but when facing an opponent with a first-mover advantage, coming from behind and winning never relied on copying the other person's choices.

Not to mention, he had considered from the very beginning the possibility that he was being guided step by step into becoming a pawn.

So even if this was an open scheme he couldn't refuse, choosing to go with the flow still required a great deal of skill and preparation.

And he couldn't forget that he still had a side quest over at the Art Prison.

...

On the way back, his mental map of the underground passage filled out a bit more, though he didn't find any new corpses or exits.

Fu Qian didn't feel much regret about this. He quickly backtracked his way out of the passage, climbed the stairs, and left the Guard Tower...

He didn't stop walking until he was standing in the prison courtyard once again.

Unsurprisingly, more than a few gazes quickly locked onto him, and he could see that Brother Peeker was still asleep.

This had to be those legendary peaceful years.

With that sigh of admiration, Fu Qian soon started walking again, heading toward a car in the courtyard—though not the one he had driven here.

Its model wasn't anything special, but the color was a striking pink. At the same time, it was kept uncommonly clean both inside and out.

Not only did it easily catch the eye, it almost felt like it carried a trace of willpower, an unwillingness to sink along with this decaying town.

And Fu Qian had indeed noticed it when he first arrived.

He remembered Old Man Hake mentioning earlier that Rachel and her husband's car wasn't at home.

And although it hadn't been specifically described, the moment Fu Qian laid eyes on this car, he felt it very likely belonged to that married woman with the unquiet heart.

As for how to verify that, it was actually quite easy.

Coming to a stop next to the vehicle, Fu Qian didn't do anything drastic. He simply lowered his head and stared, carefully observing its interior and exterior.

The onlookers undoubtedly caught his behavior, but while it was weird, it truly wasn't extreme enough to warrant any intervention. There simply didn't seem to be a reason to stop him.

Those with a bit more cultural refinement might even have taken it for performance art, considering they were in such a unique place.

"Hello."

After Fu Qian had been circling the car and keeping up this act for several minutes, a soft voice unexpectedly called out from beside him.

Turning his head, the first thing he saw was a head of gorgeous blonde hair.

She was around thirty years old and dressed elegantly, her face even more charming than her voice.

"Hello, Anke."

Nodding slightly at the woman who had approached him, Fu Qian made no effort to hide his scrutinizing gaze, yet he still took the initiative to introduce himself with perfect grace.

"Um... just call me Rachel."

Sure enough, after a moment's hesitation, the other party finally introduced herself as well.

It made sense. If you were someone who had hidden from your family and sneaked out to pursue an artistic life, only to suddenly find a strange face staring intently at your car...

...as long as you still cared about your family even a little, you were bound to react somehow.

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